Those Snake Folk
by jamie.lourenco
Summary: my first fanfic. About what a Tsaesci being the dragonborn will be like, please review, eventual Dovahkiin/Lydia
1. Dragging The Snake By The Tail

**Hey people, this is my first Fanfic, it's about a Tsaesci in Skyrim, in The Elder Scrolls lore they are giant, vampiric, immortal (can live forever as long as not killed), golden Snakes with arms that breed goblins to eat, devour dragons and can change shape. I've tried to make him a bit weaker hence the snow dilemma because it might seem too powerful to have no weakness. Please review and favourite if you liked and just send me a PM of what I can do to make it better :) I will try and update every week.**

**Sadly I do not own Skyrim, Bethesda does. I have a copy of the game though.**

With every clunk of the turning wheels Resh could hear what his people would say to him. He could feel his shame talking to him, telling him he wasn't worthy of being a Tsaesci, that he was weak and undisciplined. How could he allow himself to be so foolish, he almost deserved to be beheaded for letting those imperial, human 'prey' capture him crossing the border. Luckily for him, it was whilst scouting so he had already taken the form of a Dunmer. He was being beheaded for illegal border crossing and he could only imagine what would happen if he were found in his true form. He didn't expect the empire would be happy to have discovered a giant golden snake from another continent was trying to scout the very Empire that they had fought to keep away from his kind on many an occasion.

There were others on the cart: three more humans, bound like he was. One of them had a gag in his mouth for a reason unknown to him. Perhaps he would ask if given the chance but at the moment that was of little concern to him. The other two Nords were talking to him, but he wasn't in the mood to listen and wasn't much of a talker. The only thing on his mind was trying to escape which, unfortunately, was not an option. He was unarmed, injured and weak from this God-forsaken snow. Of all the things Resh had seen in his life he had never come across something he hated as much as this snow. It was so different to the desert and jungle lands of Akavir.

The cold just drained him. Being a cold blooded snake, this was especially bad for him. For him, the most perilous part of his scouting was the cold as it would make him inflexible and unable to fight properly, the ultimate tragedy for his warlike kind. The worst part was that, just to be able to function, he had to bask in the sun every day to heat up his blood, once at the right temperature he could use some of his magic reserves to keep that way, but at a cost of less magic. His superiors had told him that of all things, the snow would be the most likely thing to kill him. But they were wrong. Who would have thought, of all things, that he would be killed by the very 'prey' he was scouting out to hunt.

The cart grinded to halt at the edge of the city snapping him out the thoughts he had been lost in. He could have laughed. He had almost forgotten that he was going to lose his head because he was dwelling on a little bit of cold. Resh was then moved out of the small cart, and lined up against a wall next to the other captives and a soldier started calling out the names. One prisoner even had the bravery or the foolishness to try running away when his name was called. He didn't get very far before he was peppered with arrows from the archers that were close. To be honest, that was going to be Resh's escape plan, with the addition of turning into his true form. But after seeing how that went, Resh decided he was going to give it a pass.

"And you… You're not on the list. What's your name prisoner?" the soldier asked. Resh didn't know what to say so he just stood silent, hoping his life would just be ended quickly. "I said what is your name?" she demanded again in a more commanding tone.

He could think of a fake name, but there would be no point. So he just stated truthfully, "Resh, my name is Resh."

"Resh? I have not heard of a name like that before. But Dunmer like yourself are never entirely normal. Fear naught, though. I will have your remains will be sent to Morrowind for you." If she had known where he was really from, she wouldn't have said that in the calm manner she had.

As he and the other live prisoners were escorted over to the block, Resh thought about how he was going to die. Hands bound together. The death of a slave. One of the mighty Tsaesci, an immortal shape-changing warrior species known for devouring the dragons of Akavir, feared by man because of their combat prowess and vampiric tendencies, let alone the fact they consider humans as prey, now reduced to almost nothing. At least there had one small consolation, Resh thought as his head was kicked down upon the block and the headsman lifted his blade. His clan would never know of this shame. Resh smiled. It seemed mad to him that he could take solace in such a little victory like this. So mad that he almost didn't notice the sounds of the roaring and burning the World-Eater created as he started his assault on the city of Helgen.

**I hope you all enjoyed :) feel free to PM me about anything (criticism, spell checks, advice etc) but I would also really like it if you put in a review, please follow if you want to read more, as this is to be continued, it will probably have another chapter by next week. Keep in mind that this is my first Fanfic so I'm probably not all that good.**

**Thank you all, 'till next time'**


	2. The Snake That Got Away

**Thank you everyone that read and reviewed, please review this chapter as well and PM if there's anything wrong with it I should change. I hope you like this chapter as well. To people that may wonder how 'Tsaesci' is pronounced I like to say it like "Say-Ski".**

Resh dragged himself up off the cold, hard ground and stared up at the blazing inferno. His senses only just beginning to wake up. His eyes adjusted to the new bursts of light and flame that erupted from the dragons jaws. His hearing was a bit slower to kick in because he could hear a sharp ringing in his ears as the nearest building exploded into fire and rubble. Despite all this noise he could hear the distinct sound of that other man from the carts voice.

Resh's survival instinct came into play and urged him to move towards the voice, even though he didn't know what he was saying. Right now all Resh cared about was staying alive and away from the burning city being ripped to shreds by a dragon.

"In here. This way! Come on!" shouted the man from the cart. Resh dove into the tower, narrowly avoiding flying pieces of debris and fire from the explosions outside. When inside, Resh finally had a chance to get his bearings and stop his head ringing.

"Jarl Ulfric". The man currently in the building turned after hearing his name. "The legends are true," the man who had just saved his life exclaimed in utter disbelief.

"Legends don't burn down buildings," added Ulfric. Resh noticed that the man known as Ulfric had pulled off the gag he previously wore on the cart.

"Up through the tower," commanded the first man, usually Resh would have never willingly followed the orders of some armour coated 'prey' but he was in no position to argue. The adrenaline pulsing through his body made everything from there on was a blur. He could remember the dragon shooting fire towards him blasting rock and timber out of the way. Resh didn't know if he was going crazy or not but it almost sounded like the dragon was shouting the words "Inferno" and "Sun".

"Jump!" the man urged, trying to get him away from the tower and into the marginally safer building. Although for what reason, Resh didn't know. Resh offered silent thanks to the man who had saved him twice now and leapt with the little strength he had left from this whole turn of events into the burning building. Even though Resh was thankful he had been saved, he still couldn't think of a reason why that man he didn't even know the name of had tried to save him. If all humans were like this he would still consider them prey but he would have to rethink the lifelong concept he had of them as being without honour. Resh didn't have time to dwell on this though. He needed to escape from a burning building, Sprinting down the burning staircase and bursting through the door Resh was finally out in the open again.

Shortly after escaping the burning building, Resh was addressed by a soldier in imperial armour "Prisoner, follow me if you want to stay alive." Taking orders from any man was bad enough, but to follow the command of an imperial made Resh's blood boil. Unfortunately, he knew it was either to choose that or to choose death. _'On the other hand, perhaps being on good terms with an imperial would grant me access to some key information his species might want. Or at the very least give him an opportunity to stab me in the back and kill a few imperial prey,' _Resh considered.

Resh rushed after the imperial, seeing it as his only chance of survival. The dragon was slaughtering the rest of the townspeople and imperial soldiers. Resh would have smiled if it weren't for the innocents dying. He was always taught that he should only slay those who can hold a sword or wield a flame but to leave the harmless unharmed.

Resh could see the unnamed man he met earlier standing by a door near the city keep. He debated if he should keep following the imperial because of the opportunities that might arise after helping him. But at the end of the day he just couldn't bring himself to fight alongside the armoured coated scum known as the imperial legion, so he followed the unnamed man into the castle depths.

After several minutes of walking through a maze of stone walls and wooden furniture Resh decide to ask his newly found ally what his name was.

"The names Ralof of Riverwood, warrior in the Stormcloak army and enemy of the imperials," he stated.

'_Enemy of the imperials, huh? I could grow to like this man'. _

"Resh. I'm from… I'm not from around here. Also a strong hater of the imperials." Resh spat the word 'imperials' out with sheer loathing.

"I see…" Ralof chuckled awkwardly, a bit disturbed by the fact he viciously hissed at the end of his sentence and seemed to roll his S's.

"Who was that Jarl Ulfric man from earlier?" Resh inquired.

"You really are new to Skyrim, aren't you? That man is Jarl of Windhelm and the leader of the Stormcloak army. The army I am in. It seeks to take Skyrim out of the hands of the Imperials and back into those of the Nords. You seem to despise the imperials. Perhaps you should think of joining. I'm sure you will make a fine warrior," remarked the rebel.

"Perhaps I will," announced Resh, beaming with pride at Ralof's remark. "Why did he have a gag on in the cart, though?" Resh asked.

"He used the power of the Voice to kill the High King of Skyrim. I wasn't there but it is said Ulfric shouted the old king apart with just his voice," Ralof proclaimed.

Resh snorted in derision at such absurd claims. A man with that power couldn't have been captured so easily. But, then again, he was a mighty serpentine Tsaesci warrior and he was taken prisoner. That regretable act of disrespect brought the pleasant conversation to a swift end, as it seemed Ralof took offense to his snort. So the two just continued the walk in silence.

Along the way they encountered a few imperial soldiers but the two dispatched them with ease, Resh was suprised at the mans combat prowess. Of course it didn't match his own, but for a mortal it was something to be admired. Picking up everything they came across, Resh finally found some armour to use and a better sword to wield.

The two fighters finally reached the end of the tunnel-like dungeon and emerged into the sun light, blinding them as their eyes had to adjust.

"I'm going to return to Riverwood, you should meet me there in a day or two and we can talk about you joining the Stormcloaks. Thank you for helping me escape. Without you, I don't know if I would have made it out alive," admitted Ralof before following the road back to his home town.

Resh watched as his new 'human ally' walked off into the distance and when he was out of sight, changed his form into that of a Nord. In their own country they would probably be treated better. Resh took his time to take in the scenery and the magnificent landscape around him. He thought the last he would see of any of this natural beauty would be on the cart trip to his death. And to think it was a dragon had just saved him from being killed and never seeing the outdoors again. He wondered if it could see the irony considering what his species used to do to them when they weren't extinct.

**To all you reading this, I hoped you liked this chapter and if so can you leave a review for me, it will be greatly appreciated. Sorry this chapter took some time to write I had a lack of inspiration, any advice from you guys about what I should think about doing now would be great. I have some ideas but I want to hear what you have to say.**

**I'll try and put another chapter up soon, thanks for reading.**


	3. The Snakes New Skin

**I would have had this chapter out a bit sooner but I injured my finger and it hurts to type, so I'm sorry for the wait. I wasn't going to actually make this chapter but a reader persuaded me to after I already finished writing what is now chapter 4, so there are two chapters today. I hope you enjoy :)**

It had been a few days since Resh had left cave with Ralof, and Resh was starting to get bored of basking in the sun, as hard as it was to believe. Resh was a warrior. He needed to fight. He needed to feel the thrill of being outnumbered. And most of all, Resh needed to feel that rush that you can only feel when using your bare hands to crush the skull of a man coated in steel.

Resh never fully understood why humans wore armour. He knew it was to protect them but because of the extreme lack of flexibility he always thought it was more of a hindrance than a help. For example, Resh had just snapped the neck of a sabre cat that strayed too close without it even landing a claw on him and he knew for a fact he wouldn't be able to do that with plate metal weighing him down. Although it might also be the fact Resh had another 412 years of fighting experience more than an overgrown kitten.

That overgrown kitten had actually provided him for a good month's worth of food. Of course he only had to eat once a month so it wasn't that much, but Resh wasn't complaining. As Resh was coiled on the ground swallowing down the cats entire front leg he felt lonely sitting there on his own. Loneliness wasn't an emotion he had felt for a long time. Resh couldn't believe that he missed that human he met in Helgen. If his kind found out they would see it as a form of weakness. The last time he felt loneliness was when his parents died. This time it wasn't as bad of course but he could feel the same emotion of loneliness creeping into his mind.

The next morning Resh decided he was going to take up Ralof's offer and meet him in Riverwood. So, taking the form of a Nord, he set off the way he saw Ralof go out of the cave. When he arrived, he saw the rebel he was looking for outside wandering through his little village and expected him to notice him, but he didn't even give him a second glance.

'_How rude'_ thought Resh.

"Ralof!" Resh called out to him whilst walking over to him.

"I'm sorry, do I know you? I can't seem place your face," he replied.

"It's me, Resh. Don't you recognise me? We met in Helgen after the dragon attacked" Just the Resh realised why the man didn't recognise him. Ralof knew him to be a Dunmer not a Nord. Before Resh had time to think of an excuse or run away to change forms, Ralof started to speak again.

"You're not the man from Helgen. He was a dark elf." Ralof pointed out accusingly, Resh was about to try and explain but he interrupted again. "Now listen here. I don't like being lied to, so you're going to tell me how you know who I am and what you know of the man from Helgen!" The man shouted, viciously grabbing Resh by the leather on his shirt. Resh did not expect to see the normally calm man get that angry so he decided that he might as well tell him the truth, out of the way of all the villagers of course who were now all staring.

"Follow me and I'll show you," Resh replied, trying to pry the man of his clothes. Resh led the obviously angry man behind the houses out of other people's sight and then took the form of the dark elf he was being during the day of the Helgen incident.

"Now do you remember me?" Resh asked, knowing full well that the now shocked man did.

"How did you do that? That wasn't any kind of magic I know. What are you?" Ralof stammered, watching as his old ally stood before him changing into some kind of monster. He looked like a large golden snake with arms, and a tail that stretched to 5 feet long alone. The monster standing before him was huge its full length would have been about 9 feet long. It would be easily big enough to kill him if he tried to fight it.

"Unlike you, I am a Tsaesci. I can shape-shift as you've already seen. I'm from another continent and my kind consists of giant golden snake people, like me," Resh left out the part about his kind wishing to devour all the mortals for obvious reasons. "Any questions?" After the scared man stood in silence Resh went on, "I thought not. So what was it you were going to tell me about the Stormcloaks?"

**I know it might seem weird how Ralof barely knows Resh and gets a bit uptight about a Nord trying to impersonate him but in Skyrim it seems to be that Nords make friends very quickly, in the game I was given the option to marry this one guy after I beat him up in a brawl… and of course leave a review if you can.**


	4. The Snake And The Savages

**Hey people I've been told that I've been misleading you on how to pronounce Tsaesci apparently it's pronounced "Sayessie", although I've seen no proof of this in Lore, in my head ill still think of it as "Sayski" so you can decide which you think is better. This chapter is going to lead onto something good next chapters, which introduces Resh's character and emotions and stuff.**

To Resh, Skyrim was like a whole new world. So different from anywhere else he'd been before, such as Akavir or Morrowind. And not just because of the snow, which he had previously shown his disdain towards, but because of the sheer amount of bandits everywhere. Of course there were some bandits in Morrowind but never this many. Every time Resh had tried to use the roads, there they were. At least they had the common decency to let him revert to his full form before ripping them to shreds. As long as he'd basked in the sun long enough they would never really bother him that much. Except for that one bandit who had seemed insistent on using ice magic, much to Resh's annoyance.

Just that one use of ice magic had put him almost out of action for days. Every time Resh tried to move an arm or flex his tail he could hear the frozen folds of fat and layers of muscle stiffen and crack. Resh couldn't travel in this state. He needed a place to rest or at the very least slow down his pace. But after arriving at Riverwood, he had promised Ralof that he would warn Whiterun of the dragon attacks, so he had to keep moving. Of course he had to spend a good hour trying to calm the man down, as he seemed scared to find out his newest ally was a giant snake. Also Ralof had seemed to know a fair bit about his kind and made Resh promise that he wouldn't go around eating humans. He wondered if humouring his newest friend was really worth it, but he had promised and a Tsaesci doesn't break a promise.

Resh wondered why he had even agreed to help the Nord. They weren't the same species and he hardly considered the man a friend. The only significance he had over anyone else was that Resh had decided not to consider him as food. And yet here he was, accepting tasks from people he barely knew. He hoped he wasn't softening up and that this wouldn't become a regular occurrence.

Resh cursed himself but he couldn't keep going at this rate. His muscles had tensed up and he could barely take another slither. His one chance would be to find a sheltered place to rest and take the form of a Nord so random passers-by didn't try to bludgeon him in his sleep.

A bandit camp suddenly came into view. It looked like two large towers connecting over a stream by a long bridge. He could see some of the residents taking watch from the bridge.

'_I guess I can join the bandits until I recover. From what I've seen, they are not without honour most know how to draw a sword, some can even harness the elements,'_ Resh considered.

Resh approached the door of the tower in his Nordic form, not wanting to get in an unnecessary and, in his current state, dangerous fight. Hobbling like an old man because of his injuries obviously didn't make him seem very much of a threat to the camp because they sent only one young bandit to see what he wanted. Or to mug him. He didn't really think this plan through but he was too far in to turn back now.

"What do you want? I'd suggest you turn around now if you want to keep your head attached to your neck," the bandit called out from in front of the tower gates.

"I seek refuge. I seek to join your group," Resh called back at the man.

"Turn around, milk-drinker, if you want to keep your coin. You're too injured to join us, and you can barely stand as it is," the young bandit insulted. At that Resh sent a burst of lightning in the boy's direction leaving a blacked scorch mark on the wall next to him. If it had hit, it would have melted through him and his armour leaving a bloody hole, the boy caught his drift that he wasn't going anywhere and ran off to find his superior.

"Come in, come in. Ymsigr has never been known to turn a good man down. I'm sure you will be a great addition for our 'innocent' little band. After seeing what you can do with magic I'm sure anyone sane would fear you so it would be great to have you on our side, just don't go casting a flame with us around," The chief stated.

"Are you okay? You look in a bad way. Want a drink of mead? We took this great stuff from the last travellers coming down this road. We also managed to get a lot of food, most of it good quality meat. Do you want some? We have enough to go around," Ymsigr asked. This chief seemed like a nice man. Judging by the two handed greatsword on his back, Resh could tell he was a strong warrior too, making Resh like him even more.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to decline for now. Maybe tomorrow," Resh replied. He'd eaten a few days ago. He wouldn't be hungry and wanting to eat for a good week or so. And as for mead, he doubted anyone in the camp would want to see a drunken Tsaesci. That would be very dangerous, especially seeing as he would probably revert to his normal form.

"Obviously I'm not going to take you on raids seeing as you're new. But as you seem fairly competent with magic you can be on guard duty. Mostly you will just be stopping other bandits and soldiers who will try and shut us down. You will also get a small share of the gold we make" Ymsigr explained.

"I'll go through with that, on one condition though. I want a bed on the roof; I like to get the morning sun." Not only did Resh like the morning sun but he needed it. Otherwise he'd die of cold, but the bandit chief didn't need to know that.

**I decided to go with bandits instead of mercs because the common population (2 people beating 1) said they would prefer bandits, and I am here to please the people, plus I couldn't think of a way to introduce mercs. Leave a review at the bottom and as usual message me if there's a problem.**


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